Oct 29, 2008
22 very simple ways for a new blogger to improve.
Like this post?
Writing
1. Keep paragraphs 5 lines or shorter. (If this post were a list of one, this would be it.)
2. Don’t get hung up on whether posts should be long or short. Just make each sentence motivate your audience to read the next one.
3. Interesting titles are good, but it’s more important that they’re informative.
4. Break up longer posts with helpful headings.
5. Put either your main point or a story in the first paragraph of posts.
6. Correct other people’s typos when quoting them (without noting that you corrected them).
7. Connect links to meaningful words so people know what they’ll find at the other end (unlike linking “this” or “here”).
Content Accessibility
8. Syndicate your whole feed. If you don’t, you’ll lose in readership more than you gain in page views.
9. Redirect your blogspot or wordpress URL to your own domain. (OK, that’s not as simple as some of these others, but it’s worth figuring out how to do.)
10. Feature your best posts somewhere noticeable, so people can get the gist of your blog without too much digging.
11. Compose a tagline that’s short and says as specifically as possible what your blog is about. Punchy is good, too.
12. Create an informative About page that sets you apart.
13. Categorize your posts accurately and somewhat specifically.
14. Limit the number of your categories so they can be listed scannably.
Community
15. Make it easy for people to contact you.
16. Interact with readers in your comment section.
17. Comment on other people’s blogs.
18. Offer to write posts for other blogs. Offer them your best stuff.
Design
19. Use a professional photo for your banner.
20. Don’t clutter your sidebar with stuff no one’s going to use, even if it is important info.
21. If you have ads, make sure they’re for things your audience will value and that they don’t clutter your site.
And Finally…
22. Write posts that are lists. People love lists.
What would you add to the list…or remove from it?
* * * * *
Definitely, the shorter the better (one reason I read your blog). My pet peeve is bloggers who, to all appearances, are trying to become the Leo Tolstoy’s of blogdom. (Free advice: Do NOT read War and Peace).
I actually write HUGE blog posts but it’s mainly because I intend to remember everything therein.
Good list. Maybe it’s also a good idea to be clear about what your blog is and isn’t.
For instance, if you’re *wanting* big viewing numbers and lots of replies, then tailor it to that, but if you’re just keen on getting your own ideas down, without too much concern for gaining an audience, don’t suddenly switch to another more populist kind of writing.
I use my blog (http://caughtnottaught.blogspot.com/) to present and consider ideas which I find in the bible, and have other places where I can communicate what I need to communicate to a wider audience, or engage in a debate. It may be out there on the internet, but the issue isn’t popularity from my point of view.
I prefer in my blog to have a thoughtful relationship with a few people who really chew over the ideas with me in person than to present a bunch of controversial posts which get hundreds of hits from people I don’t know, and whose opinions I don’t have any reason to value.
The register of my blog is often slightly too difficult for most people in the blogosphere to want to cope with. I work as a youthworker and wouldn’t expect young people to plough through the ideas in the form that I present them on my blog, for example. If people are looking for a quick hit of pleasant reading, or easy-to-follow instruction, or unpacked theology, I don’t mind that, but I don’t provide it at my blog either.
It’s easy to provoke a response if response is what you want. Just write about hot button issues and be critical of something or someone. E.g.: it’s easy to write provocatively and from a new angle about:
evolution,
homosexuality,
blogging,
language snobbery,
abortion,
elections,
ministry styles,
gender roles,
the best kind of worship music,
how to parent,
race, etc etc.
Here’s a for instance: “American churches are a disgrace because of the continuing de facto segregation between black and white people. This is the elephant in the room for almost every church in America, and should be dealt with almost before anything else, for the sake of the credibility of the gospel.”
A trolling blog site with posts like that is one that’s gone fishing with a grenade.
The act of interpreting personal experiences in a critical way immediately provokes a reaction too, and so do appeals to authority.
I’m quite clear about what I want blogs (my own and other people’s) to do for me, and I find that beneficial because it takes me effort to compose them, and it takes other people effort to engage with them.
ED…
great list…almost makes me want to start a blog (I know this was an advice post, not a reasons to blog post). My reasons for not starting one are shrinking.
I try to keep my blogs short. I think it makes it easier for people to check and know they can get through the whole blog. When I did write long posts (About True Woman) my sisters complained it was too long ;-)
Good stuff!
I don’t think anyone should complain to bloggers that their posts are too long. Those readers who don’t have time should just read the shorter ones and possibly skim the longer ones.
I suppose it could be polite to request/suggest that the blogger also include a condensed version for those who are not able to get through the longer version, but truly care about what you want to say. But some things, you just can’t say all that is important to your point in a short post. Some people can do that well, as in this blog, but for others something is lost that would make it pointless to write anything if not thoroughly. I don’t think it’s fair or thoughtful to demand that.
Quantity over Quality
You don’t have to post every day or several times per day. Personally, I have too many feeds to actually get through every day and I have several I read regularly, but wish they would post once per week something really good instead of daily filler.
How do you “#7?”
These are good. I’m off to rework my About Me page (I thought, uh-oh, he’s describing mine and trying to be vague about it).
I wonder what good guidelines are for categories. I have 26, you have 19. Yours seem to be listed in a logical order (or something other than alphabetical) so I’ll have to see if WordPress will let me do that. But I often wonder if I have too many categories.
As far as quantity/quality goes, I think Chad’s right. I would add that some sense of regularity is good. I think you’ve made this point in one of your articles, AP, but even if you just post twice a week but do that consistently (say Tuesday & Friday) I think it’s better than two-a-days followed by two weeks of silence.
Chris,
I think you’re right. Long is totally fine. In fact, points 1-5 assume that posts will be somewhat substantial.
Katharine,
By link to meaningful words, I mean add your hyperlink to a phrase in your sentence, rather than add a “click here.”
Here’s an example from a post I wrote last week:
“Subscribe by email or RSS.”
That’s instead of:
“Subscribe by email byclicking here or by RSS byclicking here.”
If you’re wondering how to actually create a link, do this:
1. Copy the address you want to link to from the address bar.
2. Highlight the text that you want to be the link.
3. Click on the icon in the tools above your text field that looks like a couple links of chain.
4. Paste the address that you already copied into the appropriate field.
5. Hit “Insert.”
I did that off the top of my head–I hope it’s clear!
Do you think it is better to have a more limited set of topics to discuss or just discuss whatever may come to mind when you sit down to do a blog?
Great List! I will keep these things in mind each time I post. – Dustin
We ought to have a post where we rate how one another’s blogs fir into this scheme!
I would add “be yourself.” In the mommy blog world, I see too many people trying to be the next Pioneer Woman. It’s inevitable that we’re going to be influenced by what we read, but deliberately copying someone else’s style is always going to fall flat.
Hmmm… interesting post and comments. I find the 9Marks blog to be one of the best, due to its content, however infrequently posted. Filler posts are a waste of time, which is one of the biggest potential downfalls of blogs.
Ed’s comments were very insightful. What the goal of your blog is must be addressed before developing a strategy for posts.
Your list (Abraham) does seem marketing focused, in contrast to content focused. Marketing and content don’t have to be in competition with each other, but your list doesn’t seem to congeal these interests. Instead, marketing is the focus, with content serving marketing. Should it be the other way around? (your list carries this feel: your blog probably does not, I haven’t been reading it very long).
Garrett
Kyle,
I think it depends on your goal and your niche.
If your goal is to let people know what you’re thinking, then broad will probably work best. In that case, your style will need to keep people reading rather than your topic, since the topics will be all over the place.
If your niche is something like humor, then your topics can also range because people just expect you to be funny.
But if your niche is something specific, like photography or kids ministry, you’re a bit more limited, because your audience expects you to talk about those things.
Choose your goal and niche, and work from there.
Garrett,
It depends on what you mean by marketing. All these tips will serve your reader as much or more than they serve you.
So, yes, it’s marketing, because people love to be treated well. But it’s not marketing if marketing means doing what’s best for what you’re promoting with no respect to the audience.
I don’t say much about content for 2 reasons:
1. These tips will improve any content. For instance, there is no post of any kind that would not be served by having paragraphs of 5 lines or less.
So I’ll leave it up to the blogger to choose good content, and I offer these tips as potential ways to improve whatever content they go with.
2. Right in the title it says “22 very simple ways…” Good content isn’t simple.
Much about how it is presented is simple, however, so that’s what this post is mainly about.
It’s intended to be practical. A new blogger can start doing all these things today. Good content isn’t quite that easy.
Good post, Abraham. I work at a newspaper, so the tip about keeping paragraphs 5 lines of less is something I deal with daily. The point is, is that it serves the reader, which is what we all want to do.
We may have huge, substantial ideas we want to share, but if the reader gives up before the end, then what have we done?
P.S. — Hello to Tony C!
Yes, Tony, it is to serve the readers.
Paragraph breaks are a device that increases comprehension, so I would take it so far as to say that pressing enter a few more times than you’re inclined to makes your point more substantial.
Big blocks of text aren’t more intellectual; they’re just more difficult–the two aren’t correlated.
But now I feel a rant coming on, so I’m going to stop.
I am cutting the blogs off my reader that don’t offer unique, interesting content. More and more blogs are looking similar. I’m debating if this post will help or hinder the problem.
[...] Abraham Piper, whose blog is the very creative, well-done 22 Words, has posted a helpful list of 22 very simple ways for a new blogger to improve. I would add that they are also ways that a not-so-new and veteran blogger could use to improve as [...]
Another tip: Edit your copy closely, especially if you work at a newspaper and tell everyone that. And, closely related, be humble or be humbled.
You should put a lot of posts up. You are not going to hit a home run every time. Besides, someone may like something that you think is sub par.
Also, music players that start automatically are horrible. If someone wants to hear your music, they can click on the play button.
My pet peeve is post titles that don’t reveal the content of the post. I am skimming titles in my RSS feeder Google Reader and positively refuse to read “cute” allusive post titles.
Oh man, Chamblee! I totally forgot about auto playing music. If I had remembered that, it would have definitely made the list.
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Thanks for the advice Abraham! I’m an amateur blogger (if I can even call myself a blogger – maybe I should just be considered a rambler) and really just blog to share stories, quotes, pictures, thoughts, etc. with friends and family. But when I decided to start a blog, I wanted to be sure that I designed and organized it well.
I think your advice will come in handy when I have just a bit more time to devote to organization and design for my blog. Thanks!!
thanks for the tips! i really enjoy your blog!
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7 of the last 8 are indispensibly-good advice. The last one, however, is an art form which not many have mastered — and writing a list isn’t really writing: it’s more like doodling, tho’ I admit that an organized or prioritized list always makes me happy.
The rest? eh. Here’s one: if you use graphics, make them memorable, interesting and value-added to your post. Also make them from images which you have clear rights to use — the example of my own blog sitting on the damp, blood-stained edge of line.
thanks for the pointers!
Thanks this post was helpful! I really like #4 & #15.
I would add to your list:
#23. Make up new words like ‘scannably’. : )
This post is way longer than 22 words.
; )
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You wound me with #12, sir.
Travis:
cf. #12 to Abraham’s actual “about me”.
The pot calleth himself black.
Great advice – thanks
Abraham, thank you so much! That is my new favorite trick!
Great points! I really like syx (or six).
Although I don’t really understand points eight and nine, they do really sound profound.
I feel so inadequate. ;)
What really warrants starting a blog? I love reading other people’s blogs, but I’m not convinced there’s any reason for me to blog. Though the idea seems appealing…Bloggers why do you? Why should I? Or shouldn’t I?
23. Link out to other bloggers. That’s missions critical.
Nice post, Abraham.
Fantastic post Abraham. I thoroughly enjoy clicking to your site. For those of you who write long posts, try to keep in mind the “96 second rule”.
I don’t think nr 14 applies to your blog, since you have a lot of categories ;)
Great list though…
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I had read previously a list of tips you wrote found on the Desiring God site.
It influenced me to change some things. Specifically, my post titles. This list has also encouraged some change.
I strongly agree that shorter is better, I follow a few blogs that I rarely finish reading because they’re just too lengthy and lack substance.
Abraham, awesome list. It was really helpful, thank you very much!
[...] Abraham Piper gives 22 ways a new blogger can improve. [...]
I appreciate your list. Thanks for putting it all succinctly!
In response to Chris @ October 29, 7:17 am:
If I had to write both a regular and a condensed version of my posts, I think it would put me over the edge. ;)
Great advice, Abraham–not just for new bloggers, but also for those like myself. I’ve been blogging for 5 years now!
I learned some of that stuff by trial and error, but you gave me valuable tips.
By the way, I think this is the first time I’ve visited your blog. Just what I need…another great blog to visit regularly! :)
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Great post, Abraham — and timely. You reminded me of a point you made in a post a few months back about the syndication of partial feeds. I just changed my feed, thanks to you (and your lovely wife).
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Abraham thanks for writing this and Ed thanks for commenting. I have hopefully taken both of your advice in hand over at my website. I actually wrote this post in response to your advice. Thanks again.
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What does it mean to “syndicate your whole feed” (#8)?
It means to make sure that when someone subscribes, they get entire posts in their feedreader. Some people only syndicate the first couple lines of a post so that folks have to click through to get the rest.
I checked and you already syndicate your whole feed, so it’s nothing to worry about.
Good reminders here; thanks Abraham.
I have so much to learn on this.
Thanks Abraham.
18.
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I really miss out on the “Community” part that you mentioned here…